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Faculty Needs Survey Spring Semester 2014 Prepared by Faculty Career Development Services The Wallace Center Anne Marie Canale, Cheryl Herdklotz, Lynn Wild February 28, 2014
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In February 2014, a survey was administered to all RIT faculty focused on what types of RIT-‐supported professional development opportunities might interest faculty. Questions covered the preferred format and venue, suggested topics and speakers, and ways faculty might use a mini-‐grant, if available. The survey was intended to guide future programming for Faculty Career Development Services (FCDS), as well as the colleges and other support units. The FCDS team designed the survey in early 2014 with input from deans and other campus partners. The survey response rate was approximately 10% (120 faculty responded). Significant findings from the survey include:
• The majority of respondents prefer a face-‐to-‐face delivery mode in a central location on campus.
• The most desired type of activity is workshops/seminars followed by guest speakers/presentations.
• Of those responding, the majority would welcome a mini-‐grant (if available) to support attendance at a conference, workshop, etc.
This report details faculty responses from the questionnaire. Overall response values are provided, along with responses by college and rank where relevant. The report is divided into four sections:
• Section 1 -‐ General information about respondents (college, rank, tenure status) • Section 2 -‐ Responses on preferred format and location • Section 3 -‐ Responses suggesting topics, speakers • Section 4 -‐ Use of funding (mini-‐grants, if available)
The original survey instrument may be found in Appendix A of this report. The survey guaranteed anonymity; therefore, open-‐ended responses were summarized by a categorical listing of responses.
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Rochester Institute of Technology
SECTION 1 -‐ INFORMATION ABOUT RESPONDENTS Table 1 lists the survey responses by college. Table 2 indicates overall responses by rank. Respondents were to select all that apply (e.g., department head and professor). Table 3 shows respondents by tenure status. The highest responses by college were from the College of Science (COS). The highest responses by faculty rank were from associate professors, and those tenured 5 or more years.
Table 1: Responses by College College # Responses COS 26
CLA 20
NTID 15 GCCIS 12
KGCOE 12 CIAS 10
CAST 6 SCB 6
CHST 3
CMS 3 GIS 1
No response 6 Total responses 120
Table 2: Responses by Rank
Rank # Responses
Associate Professor 33
Assistant Professor 26 Lecturer/Senior Lecturer 20
Adjunct 18 Professor 15
Department/Unit Head 9
Academic Leader (Dean, Associate Dean) 3 Other (Visiting Assistant/Tutor) 2
No response 2
Table 3: Responses by Tenure Status Tenure Status # Responses
Tenured 5 or more years 47
Not applicable [lecturer/adjunct population]
39
Pre-‐tenured (on tenure track) 19 Tenured 3 to 5 years 6
Tenured 1 to 3 years 4
No response 5
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Rochester Institute of Technology
SECTION 2 -‐ PREFERRED FORMAT AND LOCATION In this section faculty were asked about the format and location for professional development activities. Respondents were encouraged to check “all that apply.” The vast majority of faculty chose “face-‐to-‐face group sessions/workshops” (73% of responses) (Table 4). The next most selected format was “one-‐to-‐one/individualized sessions” (34% of responses). The location chosen was predominantly a central location on campus (73%), followed by “within your college” (41%) (Table 5).
Table 4: Preferred Format Format # Responses
Face-‐to-‐face group sessions/workshops 87 One-‐to-‐one/individualized sessions 41
Online self-‐paced 31
Online webinar 27 No preference 11
Other 2 No response 6
Table 5: Preferred Location Location # Responses
Central location on campus 88
Within your college 49
Off campus 17
Other 1
No response 8
SECTION 3 -‐ TOPICS AND SPEAKERS Section 3 includes responses to questions about the kinds of internal (RIT) professional development opportunities that might interest faculty. Faculty were asked to “select all that apply.” Workshops/seminars (70%) and guest speakers/presentations (60%) were the most commonly selected (Table 6). Faculty were asked an open-‐ended question to indicate areas of interest or program topics they would recommend. Several common themes emerged as indicated in Table 7. The most frequent requests were for development offerings in the areas of scholarship, publishing, and grant writing, teaching strategies, and technology-‐related themes; however, the responses were broad and included requests for classroom management support, teaching deaf and hard-‐of-‐hearing students, and communication/organizational support. Faculty were also asked to recommend guest speakers that might be invited to campus. Suggested categories ranged from discipline-‐specific (literary theorist, graphic designers), to general professional development (career issues, effective communication strategies), to publishing, teaching and learning, and technology-‐related speakers. Appendix B includes the responses from this question by category. Where possible, a web link for more information on the recommended guest speakers has been included.
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Rochester Institute of Technology
Table 6: Internal (RIT) Professional Development Opportunities
Format # Responses
Workshops/Seminars 84 Guest Speakers/Presentations 72
Faculty Learning Communities 55
Mentoring Activities 42 Webinars 39
Other 7
Table 7: Areas of Interest/Program Topics Faculty Recommended
Category Comments Career Guidance • How to become a better professor
• ConsultingClassroom Management • Copyright issues (e.g., fair use in academia)
• Teaching to Millennials• Teaching effectively to autistic students, deaf/hard-‐of-‐hearing• Dealing with students’ behavior (probation, suspension, cheating, etc.)
Communication/ Organizational Skills
• Working with upper administration• Faculty relations between tenure track and non-‐tenure track faculty• Time management and organization skills• Work-‐life balance
Deaf & Hard-‐of-‐Hearing Support
• ASL courses• ASL for Foreign Language Teachers• ASL webinars
Discipline-‐Specific • Networking with URMC and area colleges• Involving area professionals in co-‐teaching courses
Grants/Grant Writing • Finding grants and funds for projects• Grant (or paper) writing "bootcamps”• Grant management (help for after you get the funds and now have to manage
budget and people)Leadership • Management and leadership training; Leadership vs. Management
• Learning to delegate• Running effective meetings• How to write a yearly evaluation
Mentoring (Peer and Student)
• How to make mentoring effective• Mentoring senior faculty• Effective mentoring of student researchers
Promotion/Tenure • Issues related to promotion from associate to full professor• Balancing research and teaching for tenure-‐track faculty• Navigating the peer review process• Using student rating data to enhance teaching effectiveness• How to create an integrated portfolio: Strategies for getting your teaching,
scholarship, and service to compliment one another
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Rochester Institute of Technology
Category Comments Publishing, Research & Scholarship
• How to publish, peer review, and support for publishing• Publishing workshops• How to gain a book contract• How to perform and grow in research• Research methods and analysis tools• Conducting collaborative research
Teaching Strategies • Teaching across the curriculum• Student engagement• Promoting critical thinking• Research-‐based teaching practices and course design• Teaching strategies, learning outcomes, assessment• Project-‐based instruction
Technology • Format and materials for flipped classrooms• How to make online courses more engaging and effective• Use of technological tools for student engagement• Free and open source software in higher ed• Design/editing/video production/support
Writing • How to edit a collection or anthology• Writing groups
SECTION 4 -‐ USE OF FUNDING
Faculty were asked if they would be interested in applying for "mini-‐grants" to support professional development (funding up to $5,000), if available. Of those responding, 90 replied “Yes” or “Maybe.” Tables 8 and 9 reflect those respondents by college and rank.
Table 8: By College College # Responses COS 24 CLA 16 NTID 13 CIAS 8 GCCIS 8 KGCOE 8 SCB 4 CHST 3 CMS 2 CAST 1 Unknown 3
Table 9: By Rank Rank # Responses Associate Professor 29 Assistant Professor 21 Lecturer/Sr. Lecturer 13 Professor (full) 11 Adjunct 10 Department Head/Chair 7 Leadership 3
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Rochester Institute of Technology
The most common suggestions for use of mini-‐grants include conference attendance (fees and travel), workshop/seminar participation, student support (research assistance, funding for their projects), professional development/training, research support, and funding for materials and fees (publication, exhibit, etc.). Select excerpts from responses include: • The attendance at conferences is critical to networking, which advances one’s career and to
staying current in the discipline. • Conferences, guest speakers and research related to an engaged classroom using
technology to increase student interest and performance (especially for students with disabilities and ESL or international students).
• Guest speakers who could encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. • Conference to bring in faculty from outside the Institute to challenge and push my thinking
in new directions, to form collaborative relationships that could lead to publications down the road.
• Attend a course that helps me develop a certain skill -‐ most likely management skills for putting together and managing my research team.
Page 6 Faculty Career Development Services | The Wallace Center
Rochester Institute of Technology
Faculty Career Development -‐ Meeting YOUR Needs Survey
Faculty Career Development Services (FCDS) in The Wallace Center is dedicated to the ongoing support and advancement of faculty in their academic careers at RIT. Please take a few minutes to respond to the survey below regarding types of professional development opportunities. Results will be shared with colleges and academic support groups to inform programming and services.
This confidential survey should only take about 3 to 5 minutes of your time. Please respond by Wednesday, February 12, 2014.
Thank you!
1. What kinds of internal (RIT) professional development opportunities are youinterested in? Check all that apply.
q Faculty Learning Communities q Guest Speakers/Presentations q Mentoring Activities q Webinars q Workshops/Seminars q Other:
2. Are there any areas of interest or program topics that you would recommend weoffer?
(text box)
3. Are there any outside speakers of interest you would recommend we invite tocampus?
(text box)
4. If available, would you be interested in applying for "mini-‐grants" to supportyour professional development (funding up to $5,000)?
q Yes. If Yes, please go to question #5 below. q No q Maybe
5. What professional development activity would you use a mini-‐grant for (e.g.,guest speakers, conferences, etc.)?
(text box)
Appendix A: Survey Instrument
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Rochester Institute of Technology
6. What format do you prefer for professional development activities? Check all that apply.
q Face-‐to-‐face group sessions/workshops q One-‐to-‐one/individualized sessions q Online webinar q Online self-‐paced q No preference q Other:
7. What location do you prefer for workshops/events?
q Within your college q Central location on campus q Off campus q Other:
8. What is your rank? Check all that apply (e.g., Department Chair and Professor)
q Academic Leader (Dean, Associate Dean) q Department/Unit Head q Professor q Associate Professor
q Assistant Professor q Lecturer/Senior lecturer q Adjunct q Other:
9. What is your tenure status?
q Pre-‐tenured (on tenure track) q Tenured 1-‐3 years q Tenured 3-‐5 years q Tenured 5 or more years q Not applicable
10. What is your college?
q CAST q CIAS q CHST q CLA q CMS q COS
q GIS q KGCOE q GCCIS q NTID q SCB
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APPENDIX B: Faculty Recommendations for Guest Speakers by Category
Discipline-Specific
Architects/designers
More sustainable communities
Speakers who address fast moving areas of biological and medical areas
Literary theorist or poet or writer in a foreign language we teach here at RIT
Scott Franklin (Physics), http://people.rit.edu/svfsps/
Noam Chomsky http://www.chomsky.info/
Tony DeRose, senior scientist/lead, Research Group at Pixar Animation Studioshttp://graphics.pixar.com/people/derose/
Adrian Frutiger, designer, http://www.linotype.com/720/adrianfrutiger.html
Milton Glaser, designer, http://www.miltonglaser.com/
Neville Brody, designer, http://www.fontshop.com/fonts/designer/neville_brody/
David Carson, designer, http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/
Katherine McCoy, designer, http://www.aiga.org/medalist-katherinemccoy/
David Eagleman, neuroscientist, http://www.eagleman.com/
General-Broad
Social scientists doing cutting-edge research
Someone from the Khan Academy/Gates/TEDs
A Futuristo Michio Kaku (physicist), http://mkaku.org/o Sean Carroll (Cal Tech physicist), http://preposterousuniverse.com/self.html
Edwin Black, investigative reporter, http://edwinblack.com/
Ramesh Raskar, http://www.media.mit.edu/people/raskar
James Cameron (Director and movie technology pioneer)
Grant-Writing/Funding
Someone from major funding agencies
Speaker from the NEH or ACLS to talk about how they do grants
Professional Development
Those that have been through these problems/solutions [writing yearly evaluations,grants/proposals, organizational management skills]
Edward Tufte, effective communication strategies, http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/
David Permlutter, dean, Texas Tech (has written extensively on career issues),http://www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/utilities/get_biog.php?record=208
Brene' Brown, http://brenebrown.com/
Peter Diamandis (author of bestseller book Abundance) (breakthrough thinking and innovation thatoffers clear, measurable and objective results), http://www.diamandis.com/abundance/
Publishing
Editors of top journals to present their own research, discuss journal editing
Editors of senior or eminent journals
Someone from one of the big academic publishers (e.g., Elsevier) to provide a balanced view ofacademic publishing. The big publishers are often demonized for their high subscription prices andcopyright policies, but I believe there are always two sides to every story.
William Germano, http://cooper.edu/humanities/people/william-germano
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Rochester Institute of Technology
Teaching and Learning
Richard Felder, http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/RMF.html
Rebecca Brent, http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Rebecca.html
James Zull, http://www.case.edu/biology/people/zull.html
Robert Sternberg, former president of University of Wyoming, now at Cornell, http://www.nvcc.edu/loudoun/cte/id66.htm
Technology-Related
Individuals involved with novel teaching practices or technologies from other universities
RIT faculty from Saunders College of Business who received funding from outside sources for the modification of its curriculum and development of materials for online courses; hear from the faculty involved with that project about its successes and failures.
Business leaders, either local or global and their views on how technology leadership will or won't be a key success factor moving forward
Rey Junco, first study on Twitter to increase student engagement, http://blog.reyjunco.com/about
Chris Tyler, Seneca University, Ontario, CA, https://scs.senecac.on.ca/staff/tyler-chris
Page 10 Faculty Career Development Services | The Wallace Center
Rochester Institute of Technology